Archive for the ‘nerd’ Category

All around the world Comic Book shops give away comics and have extra specials on this day – and there’s no catch! Walk in to a local comic store and walk out with free comics from a wide range of publishers and writers!!! It seems like utter madness, and so it may be, but it’s madness in your favour!

Quite a few Melbourne stores participate every year, so use this handy locator to find the closest participating store to you

Too late to prime you for Joss Whedon’s flying visit to Melbourne for Writers’ Festival, I can only hope you were able to find that choice morsel on your own… but for Whedonverse devotees now feeling short of a Buffy Bonding session, fear not!

Welcome to the new home of the Melbourne Browncoats! This is a place for fans of Joss Whedon’s television series “Firefly” and movie “Serenity”, as well as other projects involving cast and crew of the Whedonverse.

For the past few years, we’ve been building a Browncoat community under the banner of Browncoats Downunder. And we’ve had a blast! Hosting pub nights, supporting the annual “Can’t Stop the Serenity” charity events and running a Browncoat Booth at local conventions.

And there’s more fun to come! We’re getting back to our roots and focusing on meeting local people at local events, hence the refinement in our group’s name.

We invite you to poke around the site, check out photos of our past activities and learn about what we’re up to next. And if you find you want more, why not join us? This is an all inclusive group, and there are no fees to join. Just come along to events which take your fancy, join us on Twitter and meet some of the wonderful folk that make up Melbourne’s Browncoat community.

As you can imagine, the Whedon Visitation was possibly the zenith of 2010’s Browncoat activities, but there will be plenty requiring a serious debrief and withdrawal-redressing any time soon, so check out their facebook/twitter/website and, if you find yourself amongst the saddened Serenity set – join on up!

Lecture Free! Note: Subscribers to MVTeachers can enter the museum free of change. For further details and registration instructions please visit museumvictoria.com.au/Education/MVteachers.
Students, concessions and children free.

Can you solve the Cube? And no, reading and copying a recipe definitely does NOT count!

How can you actually find such a recipe? How can you solve the cube in 10 seconds? How can you solve it blindfolded? How would God solve it?

Sound interesting? Then don’t miss out on this talk, where all will be revealed. Burkard “CubeMeister” Polster will answer these questions, and will explain how mathematics is behind all the answers.

Lecture Free! Note: Subscribers to MVTeachers can enter the museum free of change. For further details and registration instructions please visit museumvictoria.com.au/Education/MVteachers.
Students, concessions and children free.

The Titanic is of course THE metaphor for disaster, in particular for disaster resulting from professional arrogance. So, we do not see why a critique of Australian mathematics education should, um, miss the boat.

Are things really that bad? Yes. In this talk we’ll explain how and why, and we’ll indicate who to blame (pretty much everyone, including ourselves). We’ll give some advice for students and parents interested in the learning of real mathematics.

Lecture Free! Note: Subscribers to MVTeachers can enter the museum free of change. For further details and registration instructions please visit museumvictoria.com.au/Education/MVteachers.
Students, concessions and children free.

How was the Second World War won? Many military experts have claimed that a lot of the credit has to go to Polish and British mathematicians, responsible for deciphering the German Enigma code. And we believe them. However, this is just one example where a handful of mathematicians were more effective than thousands in the opposing armies.

Come and find out about some of History’s most destructive mathematical weapons. The pen is mightier than the sword? You bet!

Lecture Free! Note: Subscribers to MVTeachers can enter the museum free of change. For further details and registration instructions please visit museumvictoria.com.au/Education/MVteachers.
Students, concessions and children free.

Mathematics is commonly thought of as calculations, as explicit formulas which give us definite answers. However, modern mathematics is nothing like this. In reality, our appeals to the Mathematics Gods are seldom rewarded with precise solutions. Rather, the Gods respond: “We cannot tell you the answer, but the answer is definitely somewhere in this Magic Box”.

In this talk we’ll describe the Magic Box and whence it came. We’ll explain how mathematicians make do with the Gods’ strange blessing, and why in fact the Gods can provide nothing more.

About the Lecturers:

Burkard Polster and Marty Ross are Melbourne’s tag team of mathematics. They write the Maths Masters column for The Education Age, appear at schools, and do whatever they can to convince whoever they can that mathematics is beautiful and fun. All their activities can be checked out at www.qedcat.com.

“These really are world class public lectures. And to make them work for such a diverse audience is a splendid achievement.”
Dr Max Stephens, MAV Life Member.

Marty Ross is a mathematical bum. At the age of 2, he ran away from America to join the circus. After some controversy involving an elephant, he returned to America to do his PhD on minimal surfaces at Stanford University. After a stint at Rice University, he came back to Australia. Since then, he has wandered from Maths Department to Maths Department, aimless but happy.

Brickvention is an Australian based convention for LEGO® fans. It’s a two-day event that brings together LEGO® fans from all over Australia to view original and unusual creations. The next Brickvention will be held over the weekend of 23rd– 24th January 2010.

Saturday 23rd January 2010 is devoted to Adult Fans of LEGO® and features competitions, games and activities involving LEGO®. Sunday 24th January is the Public Open Day part of Brickvention where anyone can come along and view the amazing creations made out of LEGO®.

LEGO® fans of all ages are welcome on the Sunday from 11am – 4pm. Entry is $5 for adults, $2.50 for kids, $15 for a family with 2 adults and up to 4 children.

If you love LEGO®, why not join us on the Public Open Day at Level 12, Victoria University Building, 300 Flinders Street, Melbourne.

Topic:The Evolution of the Universe – Our Cosmic Past: The history of the Universe is perhaps the oldest and most compelling question in astronomy. Over the past 80 years, astronomers have made a series of remarkable discoveries which have given us an ever more detailed understanding of the evolution of the universe. Our latest discoveries even give us a surprising hint of the future which awaits our distant descendants. Bart Pindor will deliver a fascinating non technical presentation on this subject that will be suitable for all to digest as he answers the ultimate questions of Love, Pain, the Universe and Everything!

All are welcome, there is no cost and supper is provided. Looking forward to seeing you there.

Special Reminder: The ASV Library is now open following the meeting, as well as the usual opening prior to the meeting.

Perry Vlahos, President

New Astronomers’ Group intake

If you are thinking of joining the August Intake of the New Astronomers’ Group (NAG) it was already 2/3rd full at the start of July. Applications close on 06th Aug so be quick. There are four Intakes per year in Feb, May, Aug, and Oct for this 12month course.

Word has reached this blog that there’s a great new secondhand book shop that has been opened by long time Clan Analogue supporter & Frostwave effects innovator Paul Perry. If you are technically minded there are heaps of books on Electronics, etc. He also has lots of books on Synthesizers and other electronic music related items. The shop just opened, so get in quick. Alot of these books you just never find in most book shops. If you are a Sydney person feel free to call him if you are after a particular book. He has alot of those 80’s books aimed at electronic musicians covering Midi, drum machines, sequencers, etc..